American GIs move through the snow-covered woods.

The Slow Ride from Bastogne to Haguenau

August 12, 2025

January 1945 – From the Ardennes to the Alsace Front

Snow fell softly across the Ardennes as the men of Easy Company climbed into the backs of trucks. They were tired, cold, and still carrying the weight of Bastogne on their shoulders. The Battle of the Bulge had cost them much, but the war was far from over. Operation Nordwind — Germany’s last major offensive on the Western Front — was in full swing, and Eisenhower needed the 101st Airborne to bolster the line in Alsace.

A Sudden Call South

The order to move came with a rumor: the Germans had broken through again. Winters’s reaction was as sharp as it was weary: “My God, don’t they have anybody else in this army to plug these gaps?”

Alsace lay 160 miles south and slightly east of Bastogne. The journey would take them through Bellefontaine, Virton, Etain, Toul, Nancy, and Drulingen. For men accustomed to walking into combat, the trucks offered no comfort — only cold steel floors, wet canvas flaps, and an endless rattle over icy roads.

Life on the Road

The pace was slow enough for men to hop down, take a roadside break, and clamber back aboard without losing ground. But in January 1945, even a simple task was a battle of its own. From long underwear to baggy OD trousers, every layer had buttons — no zippers — and frozen fingers struggled to work them. Watching the process was sometimes comical, even to the men themselves, as they danced from foot to foot in the snow, gloves still on, trying not to freeze in the process.

Drulingen – A Night of Warmth

By the time Easy Company reached Drulingen, 1st Sgt. Carwood Lipton was in bad shape — chills, fever, and weakness. The medical officer diagnosed pneumonia and ordered evacuation the next day. That night, Lipton shared a room in a German house with Lt. Ron Speirs. There was only one bed. Speirs insisted Lipton take it.

The elderly German couple who owned the house brought schnapps and Apfelstrudel. Lipton, who had never touched alcohol, sipped at the schnapps until the glass was gone. He ate the strudel and fell into a deep sleep. By morning, the fever had broken. In the midst of war, kindness — from comrade and civilian alike — had given him a reprieve.

Alsace – A Land Between Wars

Alsace, straddling the border between France and Germany, had been claimed by both nations over the past century — German in 1871, French in 1919, German again in 1940, and French once more in 1945. It was to this contested land that Easy Company now came, waiting in reserve as the fight continued.

The road from Bastogne to Haguenau was not marked by great battles, but by endurance. It was a journey of bone-deep fatigue, bitter cold, and rare human warmth — a reminder that not all moments in war are measured in gunfire. Sometimes, survival itself is the story.

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